The Guardian has profiled the porn star Kurumin Aroma, another example of the chronic problem of coercion in the adult video industry in Japan. Though long widely known for some time, the controversy over the coercion and exploitation of female performers has recently scandalized the industry, leading to a lot of press attention, a public apology and even arrests. Several prominent performers have come forward with stories of how they were tricked and forced into performing. Aroma wanted to be a gravure idol and was spotted by a scout while still at college. Then when she had a ...

After the media controversy comes the government crackdown. The biggest story in the adult industry last year was when the widespread coercion in the porn industry was finally exposed after several famous performers came forward, in addition to multiple arrests and prosecutions. It led to an official apology from the industry, though can we really hope that things will really improve when the industry is so large and its needs so rampant? (After all, such coercion is also endemic for gravure idols, music idols and the general entertainment world.) Kyodo now reports that the ...

A Japanese newswire article about sexual harassment among aspiring models and idols is doing the rounds, confirming what we've been saying for years. Apparently, a government survey has shown that 26.9% of Japanese young female models and starlets have received "unwanted requests for sexually oriented photo shoots." This comes hot on the heels of last year's controversy about widespread coercion in the porn industry. In the first survey by the Cabinet Office on sexual abuse against young women, 7.7% of respondents had been offered contracts to become models or starlets. Asked about ...